Court upholds suspended sentence for South Korea's ousted Yoon
The ruling could cancel Yoon's 2022 election win and force his party to repay nearly $30 million in state-reimbursed campaign funds.
A South Korean appeals court upheld a suspended prison sentence for ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday, a ruling that could void his 2022 election, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.
The Seoul High Court confirmed the lower court's sentence of 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, over false statements Yoon made during his presidential campaign.
If the verdict becomes final, Yoon's election would be annulled and his People Power Party would have to repay 39.7 billion won ($29.6 million) in state-reimbursed campaign costs.
Yoon's lawyers said they would take the case to the Supreme Court.
The convictions stem from Yoon's denial that he had introduced a lawyer to a former tax official at a December 2021 press event, and from false claims about his ties to shaman Jeon Seong-bae in a January 2022 interview.
The court ruled that his statements violated voters' right to make informed choices and weakened electoral fairness.
Under South Korean election law, parties must repay campaign funds when a candidate receives a final prison term or a fine above 1 million won for election violations, and such penalties also cancel the candidate's victory.
Yoon was removed from office after his martial law declaration in December 2024 failed.
In February he was sentenced to life imprisonment for leading an insurrection, a conviction he is appealing.
